Recommendations for...

Classic sounding metal songs that deal with Christ's birth, life, purpose, etc.  My wife and I made Cd compilations for her family (non-believers) a few years ago, and we titled them "Non-Traditional" - had no familiar Christmas songs on them at all, rather, Christmas songs that were more modern, as well as a few non-Christmas songs that just "sounded" Christmas-y based on the lyrical content of Jesus' birth. Course these were CCM songs, not metal... but they actually loved the compilations !  Was a great way to get the Word in them in a non-threatening way.

I am now looking for heavy metal songs (not the growling stuff you can't understand) that's not for Christmas, but has mention of the Nativity in it, or at least Christ's purpose for living, for coming into this world.

Anyone got any off the top of their balding heads ?

Theocracy - Bethlehem comes to mind.  Some of their Christmas songs are really good too.  No "growly" vocals limits it a fair bit - at least what I could recommend...  (I've a ton of Christmas songs but most are "extreme.")  You should check out Metal Blessing Radio's Christmas compilation Repossession: A Christmas Album.  It's got a fair bit of extreme stuff on it, but also some traditional.  The Jonathan Simpson

http://metalblessingradio.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1
http://firestreamvault.com/album.php?id=12702

(On a side note, the Repossession album is limited to 300 hand-numbered copies and I have #2!)

Not exactly "heavy metal" but a hard rock number from one of my favorite bands.  You can download the single from Amazon.

Light of Man @ Amazon

nice ! thanks fellas ! gonna check those out after work...

Yeh, I figured there's gotta be several traditional metal/rock songs by Christian bands that sing of His birth / coming to the earth the first time, that are not "Christmas" songs per se.

You can always give them copies of Rock Power Praise Christmas, Monster Ballads Christmas, We Wish You A Metal Christmas, Twisted Sister Christmas, or anything by Northern Lights Orchestra.  Also, copy for them the two Apologetix Christmas albums.

There are a few songs on those albums you mentioned that have non-traditionals, but the majority are classic old Christmas songs.
I think they, like me, are completely burnt out on the same old songs every year- which is why they dug the comps we made for them. Songs they never heard before, but had either
1. Christmas lyrics with a Christmasy sound to them (bells, music box type sounds, etc)
or 2. Just straight up Nativity lyrics from a non-"Christmas" album. "Adoration" by the Newsboys is a good example of the type of songs I'm seeking (not to mention an absolute remarkably beautiful song of worship - lyrics that can be sung any day of the year, but fit perfectly on the previous Christmas albums I made):

I'm here with the others
Who saw the heavens testify
Now I hang back in the shadows
I want to come close
I want to know
She sees me shivering here
She smiles and with a nod
I walk through the mud and straw
To the newborn Son of God

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to this barren land
Where we live
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

He raises a wrinkled hand
Through the dust and the flies
Wrapped in rags like we are
And with barely open eyes
He takes my finger
And He won't let go
And He won't let go
It's nothing like I knew before
And it's all I need to know

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to the world we live in
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

God is with us here
Our Immanuel
God is with us here
Our Immanuel

O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Jesus, our Immanuel
Is with us here and He won't let go

That's what came in my mind too. Rock Power Praise.

My husband used this CD for a Christmas Broadcast to the local radio of my town.

Definitely Theocracy's Bethlehem as already mentioned. For classic Christmas songs done in a non-classic way, find December People (done to classic prog tunes), the pair of Merry Axemas CDs (pretty loose interpretations of many) or Steve Lukather's Santamental (modern jazz rock). You can hear those on my Christmas shows.

You might also check my playlists for the week or two leading up to and including several Easters since I'd often play what I considered the boldest songs about Jesus' life/purpose in that season.